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Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Relation to the Red Army Faction University Libraries Lance and Elena Calvert Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards Award for Undergraduate Research 4-22-2020 Art and Terror: Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Relation to the Red Army Faction Joanie Lange [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/award Part of the Contemporary Art Commons, European History Commons, and the German Literature Commons Repository Citation Lange, J. (2020). Art and Terror: Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Relation to the Red Army Faction. 1-30. Available at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/award/44 This Research Paper is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Research Paper in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Research Paper has been accepted for inclusion in Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Art and Terror: Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Relation to the Red Army Faction Joanie Lange HIST 451: Capstone Research Seminar (Europe and the World) December, 2019 1 The Red Army Faction, known also as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, is Germany’s most infamous, although not its most deadly, far-left, urban guerrilla terrorist organization. The urban guerilla trend is a slice of German history that defies simple explanation. Called terrorists by most, members of the RAF considered themselves activists and used violent methods to protest what they saw as a fascist, Nazi-run West German state. Their ideology was a mix of popular leftist sentiments from the student movement of the late 1960s and extreme Marxism-Leninism. Its members were mostly middle to upper-middle class educated youths who became radicalized enough to risk their lives and futures for the armed struggle against what they saw as an unjust and immoral Western world. Many of the RAF’s members were or had aspired to be members of the creative intelligentsia, and these experiences influenced how the group portrayed themselves and their ideology. Within the group’s first seven years, twenty seven people were killed by the group or in exchanges of gunfire, two were accidentally shot by police during investigations, and seventeen RAF members died.1 Despite their brutal methods and extreme beliefs, the group’s association with popular movements like anti-Vietnam and antifascist activism endeared them to some German leftists. The Red Army Faction was formed in part as a response to Germany’s past mistakes and contemporary political issues. Far-leftists in West Germany saw many aspects of their government as being fascist, such the polices’ sometimes brutal treatment of political protestors.2 Members of the RAF such as Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin engaged in conversations about Germany’s Nazi past and its legacy in contemporary politics and society long before they became radicalized. In many ways these women embodied the idea of 1 Stephan Aust, Baader-Meinhof: The Inside story of the R.A.F., trans. Anthea Bell, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 433. 2 Ibid., 24-27. 2 Vergangenheitsbewältigung in their political beliefs before and during the RAF’s existence. The term Vergangenheitsbewältigung, which roughly translates to ‘coming to terms with the past,’ describes the public debates that take place over past atrocities. It is primarily related to discussions of the Nazi Era, but it can also be applied to other historical issues and other countries. In this project I argue that this term can also be applied to both the RAF’s interpretations of National Socialism and to artist’s historical and ongoing interpretations of the RAF itself. The RAF, while not the most prolific of leftist terrorist groups in the 1970s, has been a surprisingly popular topic or source of inspiration for numerous artists over the past four decades. Similar to how the RAF used words, images, and then direct action to address Germany’s Nazi past, artists have used their works to come to terms with the legacy of RAF terrorism. The principal goal of this paper is to explore the development of the RAF and subsequent artistic interpretations of it in relation to the concept of Vergangenheitsbewältigung. It will begin with a discussion of the contemporary political and historical questions posed by the RAF and then their efforts to artistically express their political beliefs. Then, I analyze the development of RAF-inspired art with a group of artworks created both before and after the RAF’s dissolution in 1998. Background to the RAF’s Formation and Continued Popularity The RAF’s first generation was active during the “Red Decade” in West Germany, the most violent and militant time in the country’s post-war history. Leftist terror in the Federal Republic was born out of the death of the Student Movement, which fractured into violent and nonviolent segments after two attacks on student protestors. The killing of Benno Ohnesorg by a plain-clothed officer during a protest against a visit to West Berlin by the Shah of Iran on June 2, 3 1967 is considered one of the catalysts for the formation of terrorist groups like the RAF, the Revolutionary Cells, and the June 2 Movement. This murder enraged student activists and radicalized many, as they thought it was clear evidence of a German police state. Student Movement leader Rudi Dutschke spoke out against this murder, and when an assassination attempt was made on his life by an anticommunist, angry students felt more convinced that peaceful protests were not enough and that armed resistance was necessary. What sets the RAF apart is how they interacted with the public through words, images, and even their behavior in court. Both in the 1970s and today, the RAF was more well-known than their contemporaries and many civilians sympathized with their cause. RAF’s militant actions protesting the Vietnam war endeared many student activists and leftists to their cause, as did their commitment to punishing ex-Nazis and criticizing the failures of denazification. Two out of three of its original leaders, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin, and around half of its members were women. Although they were not a feminist group, its members exemplified the sexual revolution of the ‘60’s and the apparent gender equality within the group continues to interest people. The Revolutionary Cells and the June 2 Movement had similar ideologies as well as female members. However, there are not nearly as many books, movies, or paintings about the Revolutionary Cells, despite the fact that the Cells were responsible for more terror attacks and more deaths. While the Cells preferred its members to go about their normal lives, participating in jobs and normal political activities, the RAF required its members to go underground and abandon their normal lives. The RAF as a Response to National Socialism During the 1960s, German youths like those in the Student Movement tried to come to terms with their country’s Nazi past. Often, debates over National Socialism and its legacy were 4 quite personal to Germans, with many expressing guilt and embarrassment over the mistakes of their country’s previous generations. Verganenheitsbewältigung is often associated with a number of German authors, like those in Group 47, but it is not limited to the sphere of literature. Many of Group 47’s authors, such as Heinrich Böll, wrote about life in the post-war period and the difficulties that that entailed, but during this time, it seemed that many Germans did not want to hear their viewpoints.3 The tendency to avoid discussing the Nazi Era changed when students during the late 1960s began to seriously re-evaluate their country’s history as well as their families’ roles in it.4 Pondering the past for many Germans meant dealing with personal feelings of guilt and responsibility. Many youths worried that they had inherited the traits that made Nazis what they were. After all, many young people’s parents had been Nazis or Nazi supporters, and many students of the previous generation had themselves been members of the Hitler Youth. Students and leftists began questioning why ex-Nazis could still hold power and wealth despite their past actions. For example, Kurt Kiesinger, West Germany’s third chancellor, had himself been a member of the Nazi Party beginning in 1933. Within the German Student Movement, there was a strong feeling that words and politics were not enough to repent for the past and that direct actions were required to right the wrongs of their country’s past and present. RAF members Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin were involved in discussions of National Socialism and its legacy before the creation of their group. Before becoming radicalized, Ensslin was engaged in student protests and articulated strong moral and political convictions. The daughter of a Protestant pastor, Ensslin had been 3 Vicki Lawrence,” Vergangenheitsbewältigung: Coming to Terms with the Nazi Past,” Agni no. 48 (January 1998): (110-114), 101. 4 Ibid., 101. 5 deeply religious in her youth and saw the world through Puritan eyes. While spending a year in the United States on an exchange program, she developed a dislike for American Christians who, “turned Sunday service into a fashion show.” 5 Ensslin’s strong sense of morality ironically led her to become a terrorist. At first, she participated only in peaceful protests, but after Benno Ohnesorg’s murder, she told a group of demonstrators that, “this fascist state means to kill us all… violence is the only way to answer violence.
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